Kerry’s blog

Today I went to the British Library to look at some of the books that I was not able to check out of the library or order on Inter-library loan.  The British Library system is very different from what I am accustomed to in the US.  Here, you have to register as a user and then go to the specific reading room of the subject that you’re researching and then you have to request the books that you want and it can take over an hour to receive them.  I requested three books by Jacob Cats and one by Johan van Beverwijck.  They were all in Dutch but I was not looking to read them, I was more interested in the engravings in the books.  The first Jacob Cats book that I looked at was called “Houwelyck” meaning “housewife” in Dutch.  The book has many engravings mostly showing women in the household but they were several which included family scenes.  One in particular reminded very much of a Jan Steen type of painting because it showed a family in disarray with objects scattered all over the floor and a monkey grinning slyly in the midst of it (monkeys usually symbolized the devil).  The men and women shown in the engravings were finely dressed and shown with luxurious items.  A couple of themes kept appearing the engravings - one was a recurring motif of ships full of people and the other was pictures of hens - I will have to look more into the meaning of these subjects.  The next Cats book that I viewed was “Spiegel” which can mean a mirror or a part of a ship in Dutch so I’m not sure of the exact translation.  This books also had several engravings of families - one showed a family making music and they were dressed as roman gods and goddesses.  Another very interesting drawing showed a woman peeling apples which reminded me of Pieter de Hooch’s painting called “A Woman Peeling Apples.”  The third Cats book was called “Moral Emblems.”  It has a variety of different adages and sayings - many of which we say in english as well.  One saying was “A hen lays ever day, but an ostrich only once a year” which I felt could have been related to the theme of hens in “Houwelyck…”  I looked at the book “De schat der gezondheid” by Johan van Beverwijck which was a medical text from the 17th century but which I thought would be interesting to see.  It did not turn out to be very useful but there were some interesting engravings of internal organs according the 17th century thinking of the body.

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Day 2

Today I went to three museums to see their collections of Dutch and Flemish art.  First, I went to the Dulwich Picture Gallery which is a little bit out of the way of central London but absolutely worth the trip.  It is a tiny gallery of about 5 or 6 rooms but with an exquisite collection.  They have some beautiful works by the old masters.  In their collection of Dutch art there was a painting by Nys called “A Woman Spinning.”  The work shows a mother who is hard at work while her two children stand idly by.  The information on the painting indicated that perhaps this a commentary on the working mother, i.e. does the education of the child suffer when a mother is working?

My second visit was to the Wallace Collection.  The collection is housed in a fantastic building decorated in a kind of victorian English style.  Pieter de Hooch’s “A Woman Peeling Apples” was a really stunning part of their 17th century paintings.  A daughter gazes at her mother perhaps modeling her future role as a housewife with her mother as an example of domestic virtue.  Another example by Nicolaes Maes called “The Virtuous Housewife” (1655) seems to embody all of the qualities of Jacob Cats’ woman from his work “Houwelyck” which describes the ideal housewife.  She is docilely sewing while a Bible is open at her side for reference.  Her sense of peace and solemnity is indicative of the quintessential wife and mother.  My interests seem to have become focused on that intersection between genre and portraiture - on works that are not specifically genre paintings or portraits.  I like genre paintings for their insight into dutch life while portraits show images of real living people from that time period.  I enjoy paintings by Jan Steen for example because he paints genre scenes but includes portraits of his own family, which is a sort of side category of portraiture but not in the traditional sense.

My third visit of the day was to the Courtauld Gallery in Somerset House.  The Courtauld collection is a beautiful and highly varied collection - they have everything from medieval icons to paintings by Kandinsky.  I looked specifically at their collection of flemish paintings - many of them by Rubens.  In particular, I looked at Rubens’ portrait of the Family of Jan Bruegel the Elder, which is dated earlier than the other works I have been visiting.  The fluidity of the painting is particularly eye-catching, and then you begin to realize that every gesture has a significant meaning.  Jan Bruegel’s arm winds protectively around the family unit, the children touch their mother’s hand identifying her central position in the family, the daughter looks lovingly at her mothers example, and so on.  This painting stands out from the usual examples of Rubens’ religious paintings.

 Day 3

Today I did a visit at Richmond University of London which took up most of my morning and afternoon.  However, I did get to visit the British Museum later today.  The trip was not as fruitful as I thought it would be because the British Museum website boasts many Dutch 17th century prints when in fact their prints exhibition is ever-changing.  I did see some wonderful Albrecht Durer prints from his small passion series.  I also visited the European art 1400-1800 room.  There were beautiful examples of Dutch pottery from Delft which are important not only for their aesthetic value but for their use as objects of cultural study.

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I arrived in London on Saturday March 1 to grey English skies but (thankfully) no rain.  Today, I began my research in the various museums and libraries in the city.  I headed to the National Gallery this morning to see their collection of Dutch paintings.  They have a fantastic variety of works including paintings by Vermeer, Brouwer, de Hooch and Maes.  One painting in particular struck me and I kept coming back to it because it was so compelling.  It is called “A Little Girl Rocking a Cradle (1655)” by Nicolaes Maes and I have attached a photo of the painting below.  I am completely drawn into the emotional relationship between this young girl and what can presumably only be her little brother or sister.  It evokes a feeling of tenderness and warmth but also a sense of mischief of the typical relationship between siblings.  The complex range of emotions displayed by a seemingly simple picture shows Maes’ talent for portrait painting. 

There was another work by Maes in the same gallery titled “Interior with a Sleeping Maid and her Mistress,” which I have seen before in photos but not in-person.  The technical virtuoisity of Maes’ paintings is really incredible.  The light and shadow are always perfect and beautiful.  I might even venture to say that he is a better painter than Vermeer, but that is a matter of personal preference.

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Working Bibliography

Ariès, Philippe.  Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life.  (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1962).

Barnouw, Adriaan J.  The Dutch: A Portrait and Study of the People of Holland.  (New York: Columbia University Press, 1940).

Bedaux, Jan Baptist and Rudi Ekkart, ed.  exh. cat.  Pride and Joy: Children’s Portraits in the Netherlands 1500-1700.  (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2000).

Chapman, Perry H, et al.  Jan Steen: Painter and Storyteller.  (Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1996).

Conroy, Peter V.  Jean-Jacques Rousseau.  (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1998).

Dekker, Rudolf.  Childhood, Memory, and Autobiography in Holland: from the Golden Age to Romanticism.  (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000).

Ekkart, R.E.O.  Dutch Portraits from the Seventeenth Century.  exh. cat.  (Rotterdam: Museum Boymans-van Beuningham, 1995.)

_______.  Dutch Portraits: The Age of Rembrandt and Frans Hals.  (London: National Gallery Company Ltd., 2007).

_______.  “A Portrait Historié with Venus, Paris, and Cupid; Ferdinand Bol and the Patronage of the Spiegel Family.”  Simiolus 29 (2002). 14-41.

Franits, Wayne E.  Paragons of Virtue: Women and Domesticity in Seventeenth Century Dutch Art.  (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).

________.  Looking at Seventeenth Century Dutch Art: Realism Reconsidered.  (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).

Freedberg, David.  Iconoclasm and Painting in the Revolt of the Netherlands 1566-1609.  (New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1988).

_______ and Jan de Vries, ed.  Art in History History in Art.  (Santa Monica: The Getty Center, 1987).

Godfrey, F.M.  Child Portraiture from Bellini to Cézanne.  (New York: The Studio Publications, 1956).

Gombrich, E.H.  Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation.  (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000).

Grijzenhout, Frans and Henk van Veen, ed.  The Golden Age of Dutch Painting in the Historical Perspective.  (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).

Harrington, Joel F.  review of “Ancestors: The Loving Family in Old Europe by Steven Ozment.”  Renaissance Quarterly, Spring 55 (2002) 316(3).

Higonnet, Anne.  Pictures of Innocence: The History and Crisis of Ideal Childhood.  (London: Thames and Hudson, 1998).

Israel, Jonathan.  The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806.  (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).

Kevill-Davies, Sally.  Yesterday’s Children: The Antiques and History of Childcare.  (Woodbridge: Antique Collectors’ Club Ltd., 1991).

Kiers, Judikje and Fieke Tissink.  The Golden Age of Dutch Art: Painting, Sculpture, Decorative Art exh. cat.  (London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 2000).

Kloek, W Th.  Art Before the Iconoclasm: Northern Netherlandish Art 1525-1580.  (Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 1986).

Knipping, John B.  Iconography of the Counter Reformation in the Netherlands.  (Leiden: B. de Graaf, 1974).

Luijten, Ger et al., ed.  Dawn of the Golden Age: Northern Netherlandish Art 1580-1620.  exh. cat.  (Amsterdam: Waanders Uitgeners, 1993).

Lynch, Katherine A.  Individuals, Families, and Communities in Europe, 1200-1800, the Urban Foundations of Western Society.  (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003).

MacFarlane, Alan.  Marriage and Love in England: Modes of Reproduction 1300-1840.  (New York: Basil Blackwell, 1986).

Mastboom, Joyce M. review of “Through the Keyhole: Dutch Child-Rearing Practices in the 17th and 18th Century: Three Urban Elite Families by Benjamin Roberts.” Journal of Social    History, Summer 33 (2000) 1000.

McCants, Anne E.  review of “Through the Keyhole: Dutch Child-Rearing Practices in the 17th and 18th Century: Three Urban Elite Families by Benjamin Roberts.”  Journal of    Interdisciplinary History 30 (1999) 332-333.

Meijer, Emil R.  Dutch Painting Seventeenth Century.  (New York: McGraw-Hill Co., 1962).

Muizlaar, Klaske and Derek Phillips.  Picturing Men and Women in the Dutch Golden Age: Paintings and People in Historical Perspective.  (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003).

Muller, Sheila D., ed.  Dutch Art: An Encyclopedia.  (New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1997).

National Gallery of Art.  Jan de Bray and the Classical Tradition.  (Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2004).

North, Michael, trans. By Catherine Hill.  Art and Commerce in the Dutch Golden Age.  (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997).

Os, Henk van, et. al.  Netherlandish Art in Rijksmuseum 1400-1600.  (Amsterdam: Waanders Publishers, 2000).

Ozment, Steven.  Ancestors: The Loving Family in Old Europe.  (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001).

______.  When Fathers Ruled: Family Life in Reformation Europe.  (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1983).

Podesta, Attilio.  Seventeenth Century Dutch Painting.  (London: B.T. Batsford Ltd., 1961).

Pollock, Linda A.  Forgotten Children: Parent-Child Relations 1500 to 1900.  (New York: Cambridge Universty Press, 1983).

Rielg, Alois.  The Group Portraiture of Holland.  (Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities, 1999).

Roberts, Benjamin.  Through the Keyhole: Dutch child-rearing practices in the 17th and 18th century, three urban elite families.  (Hilversum: Verloren, 1998).

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques.  Émile.  (Paris: Éditions Garnier Frères, 1951).

Rule, John C.  review of  “Ancestors: The Loving Family in Old Europe by Steven Ozment.”  The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Spring 33 (2003) 606-607.

Sandberg, Brian. review of  “Ancestors: The Loving Family in Old Europe by Steven Ozment.” The Sixteenth Century Journal, Spring 33 (2002) 270.

Schama, Simon.  The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age.  (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987).

Shorter, Edward.  The Making of the Modern Family.  (New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1975).

Slive, Seymour.  Dutch Painting 1600-1800.  (New Haven: Yale University, 1995).

Stone, Lawrence.  The Family, Sex, and Marriage England 1500-1800.  (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1977).

Van Thiel, Pieter J.J.  “Catholic Elements in seventeenth-century paintings, apropos of a children’s portrait by Thomas de Keyser,”  Simiolus 20 (1990-91).  39-62.

Westerman, Mariët.  The Amusements of Jan Steen: Comic Painting in the Seventeenth Century.  (Zwolle: Waanders Publishers, 1997).

Wheelock, Arthur K.  Dutch Painting of the Seventeenth Century.  (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995).

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Artemisia film clip

This clip is actually several scenes from the movie that have been cut together.  There is one scene in particular where Artemisia lifts her hand and her finger tips are covered in blood (not having seen the entire movie, I’m assuming this was the rape scene).  It is followed by a scene of Artemisia painting the spurting blood coming from Holofernes’ neck.  I just feel like the film probably perpetuated these myths that have been told about Artemisia for centuries instead of looking for real truth.  Again, I haven’t seen the entire film and don’t want to make broad generalizations, but watch the clip and tell me how you think it fits into the myths and stories of Artemisia’s legacy(ies) or any other observations you may have.  Thanks!!

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Thursday’s class got me thinking about several things. First is the language we use to talk about feminism. We refer to it as a past event, something that has already occurred and is now finished. We don’t think of it as “au courant.” I think this generation’s women see it as part of ther history but not something that is active within society…at least not in the same dynamic spirit as in the 60s and 70s. Right before class, I found this
article in the New York Times.  It discusses studies that were done in 2006 concerning women entering the workplace. What researchers found is that most women don’t share the same forceful qualities as men, such as anger. I don’t know about you, but I have seen some angry women in my life, but the study showed that when women were angry, there were seen as being “out of control.” I think the best current example I can use here is Hilary Clinton. One scientist  is quoted as saying that, “Women have to choose between being liked but not respected, or respected but not liked.” I think that is absolutely true in her case and I would have to say that she generally respected but not liked. It is a choice she has made, most likely consciously and probably to her benefit. Rather than focusing on the qualities that women “lack,” I think we should focus more on the choices they make in their lives.  I think it was Laura who said in class that maybe some women artists were not doing what came naturally to them but they were shrewd in their decision-making, and that is why we still talk about them today.

I also wanted to share more thoughts about the NMWA and its place in the museum world.   While I would love to believe in the museum and its mission to “integrate” female artists into major museums, I really feel it is doing just the opposite.  I feel that a museum could be created to house women’s art from the late 20th century to the present (which would obviously bring in the issues of feminism that Holladay tried to avoid).  That type of museum would ultimately be more successful because of the change in attitude during that time about the creation of art, the move towards a modernist sensibility, and a disassociation from classical sources in art.  In the case of female artists painting before the the 1960s, there seems to me to be a very clear distinction.  These artists drew from classical sources and training (which came indirectly to them because they were not allowed to acquire the same training as men).  Therefore, I think they profit more from being included in a major collection like the NGA, the Met, etc.  In that way, these artists can be better compared and contrasted with their contemporaries, which were normally men.  This will hinder and benefit them simultaneously.  I believe that the paucity of female artists is one of the reasons that they cannot form a coherent collection when displayed together.  It is not necessarily an issue of quality in my mind but the fact that the audience has few reference points for the works they are viewing.  The experience then becomes less significant and therefore some meaning is lost.

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I was reading the Washingtonian this past weekend, and while looking through the arts section, noticed a new exhibition at the Renwick Gallery on quilts.  Normally, I might have passed over this exhibition without much interest, but after Thursday’s class, I am very interested in going to see it.  Here’s a description of the exhibition from the museum’s website:

Stunning Quilts Star in New Show

Explore the beauty and fine workmanship of American quilts in the new exhibition “Going West! Quilts and Community.” On view through January 21 at the Renwick Gallery, the show reveals the essential role that quilts and the making of quilts played in the lives of women on the frontier. The Great Platte River Road was the principal route for America’s western expansion as early as the 1830s. Pioneers headed for a new life in the Nebraska Territory packed their wagons with necessities that almost always included quilts. Quilts served an important purpose along the difficult journey, whether used as sturdy domestic bedding along the trail or packed tenderly in the trunk as a tie to all that had been left behind. Independent curator Sandi Fox is the guest curator for the exhibition, which features more than 50 quilts.

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This is my discussion outline of Chapter 6 “The Portrait of the Artist” from Sheriff’s “The Exceptional Woman.”  I am also attaching my power point presentation in case you want to take a look.

The Portrait of the Artist

portrait-of-the-artist-pp.ppt

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Paper Proposal!

It has become evident to me, in my study of art history, that in the case of female

artists, it seems that their biographies often become more important than the art they

create.  I became especially aware of this in our class discussion of Properzia de’Rossi.

When Vasari wrote about Properzia, he made it a point to mention her “lovesickness”

and the way it effected her portrayal of the subject, Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife.

Properzia’s experiences, especially those with men, colored the interpretation of her work

by art historians.  This then led me to consider Artemisia Gentileschi.  In any discussion

of Artemisia, it seems almost integral to talk about the fact that she was raped by

Agostino Tassi.  This part of Artmeisia’s history is then used to explain her approach to

any number of artistic works, especially the painting, Judith Slaying Holofernes.

I propose to explore the case of female artists who have experienced sexual

assault and why it is important for art historians to include this in their interpretation of

the artist’s work.  This will include a discussion of why an artist’s biography is important

and to what extent should we as art historians use it to explain/understand an artist’s

intent.  Furthermore, there will be a discussion of the image of rape in art in the past and

possibly in the present as well.  Sexual politics will also come into play as I delve into the

reasons why, in the case of male artists, biography and experience never seem to play as

important a role as with women.

This project is important because I feel that perhaps there is not a large amount of

scholarship on this specific area.  The current state of research includes studies of the

biographies of artists and studies of sexual assault.  The work I have completed on the

project includes the bibliography below and brief consultations of those works.  I feel that

the more I read on the subject, the more focused my direction will become.  Presently, I

am very interested in the way in which sexual assault plays a role in a woman’s life and

how it could effect her future endeavors.  In order to do this, I will need to find additional

examples of women who fit the dual categories of artist and victim of sexual assault.  I

am confident that there are other examples out there besides Artemisia.  However, if it

becomes difficult to find other examples, this paper either may focus on the sole example

of Artemisia or focus more on the image of rape in art and in the lives of early modern

women.  I will take a feminist approach in this paper, which is appropriate to the topic.

In researching this topic, I believe that possible conclusions could involve the

ignorance/casual attitude concerning sexual assault during the Renaissance and Baroque

periods.  Other conclusions could involve the fact that sexual assault is almost an

exclusively female experience and therefore when it occurs, it is seen as a life-changing

event which would certainly effect the work of a female artist.  However, I also hope to

explain why I believe that women artists should be accepted and critiqued based on their

own merit and talent, just as their male counterparts are.

Annotated Bibliography

Broude, Norma and Mary D. Garrard, ed.  The Expanding Discourse: Feminism and Art
History.  (Boulder: Westview Press, 1992).

The book contains a series of articles focusing on the feminist perspective of art history.  However, there are several articles including, “The Erotics of Absolutism” which I think will be a good resource.

Brownmiller, Susan.  Against Our Will: Men Women and Rape.  (New York:  Simon
Schuster, 1975).

This book focuses on different racial groups as well as social classes and the occurrence of sexual violence.  It could provide some interesting insights into the experience of sexual assault.

Buchwald, Emilie and Pamela R. Fletcher, ed.  Transforming a Rape Culture.
(Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 2005).

This book focuses more on activism associated with stopping the occurrence of sexual violence.  This is not very important for my research but I think that it may provide some useful information.

Bullough, Vern L.  Sexual Variance in Society and History.  (New York: John Wiley and
Sons Inc., 1976).

This book focuses on the ways in which sex is and has been interpreted throughout history and in different cultures.  It will be a good resource especially if I decide to use examples of women from different countries.

Garrard, Mary D.  Artemisia Gentileschi: The Image of the Female Hero in Italian
Baroque Art.  (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1989).

I plan to use Artemisia Gentileschi as a main example in my paper and so this monograph of Artemisia is especially useful.  There is a detailed account of the rape trial against Agostino Tassi, which I think will provide good information.

Gornick, Vivian and Barbara K. Moran, ed.  Woman in Sexist Society: Studies in Power
and Powerlessness.  (New York: Basic Books Inc., 1971.)

This book concentrates on the power relationship between men and women.  It addresses a variety of different issues that could make for interesting incorporations into my research.

Harris, Ann Sutherland and Linda Nochlin.  Women Artists: 1550 – 1950, exh. cat.  (New
York: Random House, 1976).

This is an exhibition catalogue from a traveling exhibition held in Los Angeles, Austin, Pittsburgh, and Brooklyn in 1977.  The exhibition covered major female artists from Renaissance to contemporary.  Therefore, it is a good general resource on female artists.

Hess, Thomas B. and Elizabeth C. Baker, ed.  Art and Sexual Politics.  (New York:
Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1973.

This book contains essays responding to Linda Nochlin’s ground-breaking article, “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?”  I believe that it will be good for my paper in order to see the perspective of the female artist.

Jacobs, Fredrika H.  Defining the Renaissance Virtuoso.  (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997).

While reading this book, I have found some fascinating insights about the biographies of women.

Roberts, Cathy.  Women and Rape.  (New York: New York University Press, 1989).

This book focuses on the study of rape from the feminist perspective.  It is also a good resource for background information.

Ruggiero, Guido.  The Boundaries of Eros: Sex Crime and Sexuality in Renaissance
Venice.  (New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 1985).

This book is about the reality of sex crimes during the Renaissance in Italy.  There is a chapter on rape and so I believe that I may be able to find some example cases to add to my paper.

Snitow, Ann and Christine Stansell, ed.  Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality.
(New York: Monthly Review Press, 1983).

This book contains a series of articles focusing on the politics associated with gender and sex.  I believe that some of the articles will provide good background information.

Tomaselli, Sylvana and Roy Porter.  Rape.  (New York: Basil Blackwell Inc,, 1986).

This book explains the history and psychological aspects of rape.  It is a good resource for background information in order to fill in the aspects of psychology that I am not familiar with.

Turner, James G., ed.  Sexuality and Gender in Early Modern Europe.  (New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1993).

The various articles in this book explore the history of sexuality and gender during the Renaissance particularly.  Several of the chapters look promising as they name specific people and so I believe it would be useful to my research.

Wolfthal, Diane.  Images of Rape: The “Heroic” Tradition and its Alternatives.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).

This book is a good reference for the themes and conventions used in works of art that portray rape.  There are many images and the bibliography is excellent and has been integral for finding other resources for my project.

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1st post!

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